C Bruce Lidberg, TravelBrands director of sales for Western Canada, and Tracy Poole, TravelBrands BDM for BC.
Arlene Scott (agent), Joan Londervan (owner), Lora Denzler (agent) and Debbie Allison (agent) of Carlson Wagonlit.
June Pagdilao, regional director of sales at Hawaiian Hotels & Resorts.
Dave Emery, sales manager for Canada at Honua Kai Resort & Spa Kaanapali Beach, with Ally Guidi and Jessie Hamilton of Transat Travel, Coquitlam.
Michael Degrace, manager speciality sales (Asia) at Air Canada.
Rosana Loo (general manager, retail), Connie Tang (assistant supervisor, product, sales & planning) and Solon Chan (manager, product sales & planning) at Silkway Travel & Cruise.
Jaylene Smillie, Debra Salway and John Borzillo of Expedia Cruise Ship Centres, Westwood.
There was definite buzz in the air at TravelBrands’ agent appreciation event at Vancouver’s Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre this week.
With some 58 suppliers and more than 300 agents on the exhibition floor, there was plenty of schmoozing taking place as the supplier wound up its six-city Canadian tour.
The highlight of the night had to be the presentation by C. Bruce Lidberg, the company’s director of sales for Western Canada.
With his signature self-deprecating humour, Lidberg revealed all the latest advancements the company has put into place on its Access site -- which he served up alongside a good dose of laughs.
With its cleaner design, stronger filter options and more cross-selling opportunities, Lidberg was especially positive about the site’s potential to increase revenue.
“There’s a Client Email option, so you can email detailed personalized information to a client,” he explained. “This is a good one for increasing revenue. You can send them the details about the hotel they ask for, but you can also send them information on up to six other hotels. So, give them the details about something that’s a little more expensive too -- and you might upsell them. You can also send six other features, so maybe add on some car rentals and tours too.”
He was also happy to jokingly warn the 300-plus agents that a Manager Access tool is coming to the site soon.
“The manager can take a look at the bookings from each agent or for the entire office. This is coming shortly, so they’ll be watching you! I’d be booking a lot of TravelBrands if I were you!”
Lidberg also placed the spotlight on the company’s 24/7 support feature, Sunquest’s ‘Stay Longer for Less’ offering, extra revenue-making opportunities on Travel Genie and Exotik Journey’s soon-to-be-released 212-page brochure -- which brought an excited round of applause from some members of the audience.
“When we talk about Exotik we always need to mention the long-stays because Western Canada is the area of the country that has really taken this to a new level. Usually in the spring and fall we have departures to places like Malta, Greece, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy… The list keeps growing and growing.”
Jennifer Maynard, Ramun Sangha and Krystle Manza, travel agents at Odenza Marketing Group.
Agents focus on the Travelbrands presentation.
Vickie Sam Paget Western Correspondent
Hailing from the UK, Vickie Sam Paget is a travel and tourism storyteller located in Vancouver, BC. When she’s not on the road, creating engaging travel content or gazing at the North Shore Mountains, you can usually find her curled up with a good book or sipping a pint of the good stuff in her local Irish bar.
